Perfectly soft in the center and crisp on the outside, these Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are made with just a handful of ingredients and require no chill time. Quick, easy, and SO good!
Of all the great cookies in the world, oatmeal raisin cookies are always a top favorite. They’re so simple, sweet, soft, and chewy–total comfort food cookie! We’re big fans of them in this house, even the few who aren’t huge raisin fans, and I’m pretty confident in saying these chewy oatmeal raisin cookies are some of the best I’ve ever had!
Why You’ll Love These Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
What makes these cookies the best? Here are a few reasons!
- Perfect texture. It’s hard to go wrong with any baked oatmeal raisin cookie but the ones that are soft and chewy on the inside with slightly crisp edges? Oh, those are the absolute best – especially when enjoyed with a glass of milk!
- Quick & easy. This easy cookie recipe is made with simple ingredients and requires 0 chill time. Just 30 minutes stand between you and warm, gooey oatmeal raisin cookies!
- Store well. These oatmeal raisin cookies rarely last for more than a day or two in my house but they do stay soft and chewy for several days. They also freeze well for up to 3 months. I like to keep some in the freezer so I can just pop one in the microwave whenever the craving hits. (Full storage instructions can be found below!)
Love a great cookie recipe? We do too, which is why we totally have you covered with all of the best recipes: S’mores Stuffed Cookies | Best Sugar Cookies (Soft and Chewy) | Lemon Snowball Cookies | Vanilla Melt Away Cookies | Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
What You’ll Need
Most of the ingredients you’ll need for these chewy cookies are likely already in the cupboard. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- All-purpose flour – Be sure to measure the flour properly to ensure the consistency of the cookies.
- Baking powder – Helps achieve the chewy texture in the cookie.
- Salt – Enhances the other flavors.
- Spices – Ground cinnamon & nutmeg give these cookies a warm base flavor.
- Butter – Softened but not melted.
- Sugar – Using a combination of brown sugar + granulated sugar helps keep the cookies moist and chewy (brown sugar has more moisture).
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Old-fashioned rolled oats – See notes below.
- Raisins
What Kinds of Oats to Use?
Homemade oatmeal raisin cookies are best made with old-fashioned rolled oats. Quick oats will get too soft and mushy while steel-cut oats will not often enough. Rolled oats give you that perfectly soft and chewy texture.
Variation Ideas
Want to switch up your oatmeal raisin cookies a bit? Here are a few ideas!
- No raisins. Not a fan of raisins? You can just leave them out and make simple oatmeal cookies.
- Cranberry white chocolate. Instead of raisins, use dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.
- Chocolate chips – Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are delicious! You can use semi-sweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or chocolate chunks.
- Nuts – Chopped walnuts or pecans make a great complement to the oatmeal and raisin flavors while add a little crunch to the cookie.
- Sea salt – For a sweet and salty combo, sprinkle the cookies with some coarse sea salt when they come out of the oven.
How to Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
These soft and chewy oatmeal cookies come together with a few easy steps. You can find the printable version of the instructions in the recipe card.
- Cream the butter. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and eggs.
- Add the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a separate bowl. Slowly add to the butter mixture, beating on low speed. Fold in the oats and raisins.
- Bake. Scoop balls of cookie dough 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
My Cookies Spread Too Much! What Do I Do?
First, to prevent this from happening, be sure to carefully measure the ingredients – especially the flour. Also, be sure to that the butter is just room temperature, not overly softened. Too soft butter is the main reason cookies spread too much.
But, if you pull the oatmeal and raisin cookies from the oven and realize they’re spread too much, don’t worry! Just take a knife or spatula and push the edges back into the center. It’ll make the center nice and puffy while also giving the edges a nice clean shape.
Tips for the Best Cookies
For the best oatmeal raisin cookies, keep the following things in mind.
- Measure the ingredients correctly. As noted above, this is super important with both the flour and sugars. Too little flour can mean the cookies spread too much while using extra flour will mean they don’t spread enough. And the sugar gives the moist and soft texture, so be sure to use enough.
- Allow room for spreading. These cookies will spread on the pan so be sure to leave plenty of room. I recommend at least 2 inches between balls of dough.
- Don’t overbake. While the outsides will begin to brown, the centers should still appear slightly underbaked when you remove them from the oven.
- Use rolled oats. Using the correct oats is important when making these oatmeal raisin cookies. Be sure to grab old fashioned rolled oats, not instant oats or steel cut oats.
Proper Storage
- Room temperature. These oatmeal raisin cookies will stay soft and chewy for up to 5 days at room temperature. Just be sure to store them in either a food storage container or ziptop bag.
- Freezer. Oatmeal raisin cookies freeze very well! Allow them to cool completely then transfer to a freezer-safe storage container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter or pop an individual cookie into the microwave for 30 seconds or so.
More Oatmeal Cookie Recipes
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
- Best Oatmeal Cookies
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- White Chocolate Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
- Christmas Oatmeal Cookies
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups 3 sticks butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats not quick oats
- 1 1/2 cups raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In large bowl, cream the butter and both sugars together with an electric mixer on high until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and eggs.
- While mixing on low speed, slowly add in the flour mixture. Fold in the oats and raisins until fully incorporated.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough into 1 1/2-inch dough balls and place two inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes until slightly golden around the edges. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Last Step:
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47 comments on “Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies”
Added nuts, coconut and some butterscotch chips.
Yum! Will have to try that next time.
I Love this recipe. The cookies came out fantastic. I added chocolate chips to mine because my son likes them that way and they came out really delicious.
Thanks Nancy. The chocolate chips are a great addition!
Cookies taste good. The edge were crunchy and perfect. Moist in the centre.
What’s the nutritional facts on this recipe
Hi Joann. I added the nutrition info to the recipe card.
Delicious and easy. Great recipe. Thanks
Thank you Janine!
Delicious! I may pretend they are good for breakfast!
So delicious! Gave to friends and they wanted the recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Glad to hear it Linda!
Very good recipe! Tastes great and bakes up great! I add chocolate chips instead of raisins.
An easy and delicious recipe!
Made them tonight for Father’s Day. My first time using this recipe. I added raisin and pecans. The texture was great, the taste phenomenal. Like the idea of cinnamon and nutmeg. Never tried that combination. This will be my go to recipe for now on.
are you using salted or unsalted butter ?
We usually use unsalted for any baking recipes, that way we can control the amount of salt by adding it.
Love these but too many at once….Can you half the recipe?
Thanks Susan. Sure you could half the recipe, but these also freeze fairly well so that’s an option too.
Only used one cup of margarine or butter not1 1/2 cups
On,y used 3/4 cup brown sugar and no white sugar
I used 2or 3 tbsp of water .
Cookies were excellent and more healthy
cookies were grea
Best oatmeal raisin recipe I have tried! Cookies come out perfect every time. The only modifications I made was I used a teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg and 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.
I have made these cookies a few times now. My husband keeps asking for them. Thank you for the recipe. These cookies are the best oatmeal cookies I have made.
Delicious!
Easy and one of the best cookies I’ve eaten.
Soft and chewy. Sweet but not too much.
Absolutely the best recipe to follow! I’ve been baking for a long time and so glad I found this pin.
These are very good cookies!
These turned out amazing! Luv, luv, luv!